Wire-straightening machine.



.A. P. GILBERT.

WIRE STRAIGHTENING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18, I9I6.

' Patented Sept. 4, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Aerfi Ifiwrfi,

. INVENTOR WITNESSES A'ITORNEY A. P. GItBERT.

WIRE STBAIGHTENING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18, I916- 1 ,175. PatentedSept. 4, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lmlil ll ll l.

WITNESSES ATTO R N EY WIRE-STRAIGHTEN-ING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 41, 1917.

Application filed September 18, 1916. Serial No. 120,788.

' chine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to wire straightening machines, and itsobject is to i provide a machine for the. purpose espe; cially adaptedfor straightening relatively short lengths of wire.

Certain commodities in certain parts of the United States are shipped inbarrels or bales with stripsor staves held together by wire bands. placewherethe material is to be used to cut the wire and discard it, the wirebeing in short lengths of but a few feet, but if straightened this wirehas a commercial value.

With the present invention such relatively short lengths of wire may bereadily straightened at a comparatively small installation cost and atavery small running cost, for cheap labor may be employed and the costof power is wholly negligible in a factory.

In accordance with the present invention the machine comprises feedingrolls with a guide tube leading to them and another guide tube leadingfrom them, a bank of straightening rollsinto which the second' guidetube discharges, another bank of straightening rolls arrangedperpendicular to the first bank with a guide tube between the two banks,another guide tube leading from the second bank, other rollsconstituting drawing rolls following the last-named guide tube, and afinal guide tube through which the straightened wire passes from themachine. The feeding and drawing rolls are intergeared, while thestraightening rolls rotate independently on the passage of the wirebetween them. The whole structure is inclosed in a suitable casing inwhich the various parts are mounted, while provision is made for theadjustment of the straightening rolls as. may be needed. v

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings forming part of this specification, with thefurther understanding that while the drawings show a.

practical form of the invention, the latter is It is the usual custom atthe not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of thedrawings, but may be changed and modified so long as such changes andmodifications come within the scope of the appended claim. In thedrawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wire stralghtening machineembodying the invention.

Fig.2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2. i

Fig. 4 is a cross-section of one of the banks of straightening rollers.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the journal bearings for one of thefeeding rolls.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a casing 1 designed toincl'ose the working parts of the machine except certain gearing.Carried by the casing 1 is a stub shaft 2 on which is mounted a pulley 3designed to be driven by a belt 4 coming from any suitable source ofpower, such, for instance, as an electric motor, which, however, is notshown in the drawings. The pulley 3 carries a pinion 5 meshing withidler pinions 6, 7, in turn meshing with respective gear wheels 8, 9.The gear, wheel 8 is carried by a shaft '10 extending through the casingl and journaled in the walls thereof. On the shaft 1s a pinion 11meshing with. another plnion 12 mounted on a shaft 13 extending throughthe walls of the casing and carried by journal boxes la-slidable inguides 15 and urged in one direction by elastic members 16. On the shaft10 and located about midway of the width of the casing 1 is a groovedroll 17, and mounted on the shaft 13 is a similar roll 18 matching theroll 17. Both rolls are peripherally grooved, as shown at 19, 20,respectively, the grooves being of a size adapted to the wire it isdesired to.

straighten. In the particular instance as sumed such wire'may be takenas No. 9 wire, since in certain industries such size of wire is usedforholding the containers together. The gear wheel 9 is mounted on ashaft 21 journaled in and extending across the casing 1, and on thisshaft within the casing is a pinion 2'2 meshing with another pinion 23carried by a shaft 21 extending across the casing and supported injournal blocks and guides like the blocks 14 and guides 15 carrying theshaft 13. Theshaft 21 is elastically urged toward the shaft 21 in thesame manner as described with reference to the shaft 13. ()n the shafts'21 and 24; are rolls 2?). '26. with peripheral grooves '27, :28,respectively. The meeting faces of the set of rolls 17 and 1S and theset of rolls 25 and it) are in alincment. with the grooves of the rollsalining. however. of slightly greater diameter than the rolls'lT and 1S,aml the gearing connections being the same in both instances theperipheral speed of the rolls 25 and 2G is greater than that of therolls 1? and 18, this arrangement. being for a purpose to be described.The rolls 1? and 18 are located within the casing near one end thereof,and the rolls 25 and it; are located within the casing near the otherend thereof, the two sets of rolls being spaced apart a sullicientdistance to accommodate certain structures to be described.

Extending through one wall of the casing .1 is a guide tube 29 reachingclose to the meeting portions of the rolls 17 and 18. The entering endof the tube 29 is flaring, as shown at 30. Extending through the 0pposite wall of the casing 1 is another guide tube 31 having a flaringentering end 32 within the casing in close approach to the meetingportions of the rolls 25 and 26.

Adjacent to the discharge side of the feeding rolls 17 and 18' is a baseplate 33 with opposite edge flanges 31 and constitut ing a supportingframe for a series of blocks 36. llachblock 36 carries a peri ')herallygrooved roller 37 and the blocks are held to the base plate 33 byset-screws 3S engaging opposite bevel edges 39 of the blocks. Eachroller 37 has a peripheral groove etO matching the peripheral grooves ofthe other rollers. and the base plate 33 carries a bank of rollers withtheir supporting blocks 36. There is another base plate 11 carrying asimilar bank of rollers each mounted on a block and held and adjusted byset-screws like the similar parts of the base plate 33, and consequentlythe same reference numerals apply to the parts of and carried by theplate 41 as are applied to the parts of and carried by the plate 33. Thetwo plates are supported by bars 42, with one plate at right angles orperpendicular to the other plate, so that the rollers of one plate liein a plane at right angles to those of the other plate. The rollers 37of both banks are idler rollers,- that is, they are free to rotatewithout any special driving mechanism for them.

Atthe entering end of the bank of rollers next to the feed rolls 17 and18 is aguide tube 4 having the end toward the feed rolls expanding. asshown at 41, and the other end formed with a nose 45 extending beyondthe adjacent portion of the first roller of the bank into close relationto the second roller thereof in the order of travel of Wire through thebank. Atthe discharge end of the plate 33 with its bank of rollers isan- The rolls '25 and 9.6 are,

other guide tube '46 having a relatively wide.

entering end 47 and having an outlet end its similar to the outlet end45 of the tube 43. At the discharge end of the second 'the rolls and 26,which. because of their somewhat greater perlpheral speed. tend tostretch or render taut the wire passing between them.

Vhen a piece of wire to be straightened is introduced through the tube25 to the rolls 1? aml 18. it is gripped thereby aml directed into theguide tube 43. issuing therefrom into the first bank of rollers 37,passing between them in succession, being engaged at short intervals bythe rollers so that any bends or kinks in the wire in the plane of therollers are removed. The advancing end of the wire after leaving thefirst bank of rollers enters the guide tube 'i'T and is directed to thesecond bank of rollers to receive the same treatment. except in,a planeat right angles to the first plane, whereby all bends or kinks noteliminated by the first set of rollers are eliminated by the second setof rollers. Leaving the second bank of rollers, the straightened wirepasses through the tube it) and is directed to the stretching or secondset of feeding rolls 2?). 2(3,'where it is put under longitudinaltension and is drawn through the straightening rollers even'afterleaving the feeding rolls 17 and 18. The straightened wire'issues fromthe casing 1 by way of the guide tube 31 and may then be disposed of inany desired manner.

The machine of the present invention is particularly adapted for actingupon relatively short pieces of wire of only a few feet in length. Suchpieces of wire in the condition in which they are removed from thebundles of material are bent and kinked and otherwise distorted, butleave the machine in a straight condition. Such straightened pieces ofwire may then be bundled and sold for a great variety of uses rangingfrom bundlingpurposes to cement reinforcement.

The machine is readily operated by unskilled and therefore cheap labor,and where the factory is supplied with electric current the cost of opeation is negligible. \Vhere other power is available the pulley 3 may bedriven thereby. t

The feeding and the stretching or delivery rolls have their grip on thewire regulated by the tension of the elastic means 16 and the weight ofthe parts. The straightening rollers 37 are adjusted relative to eachother and are held in place by the set-screws 38 engaging the bevelededges 39 of the blocks 36, so that the action of the staggered rollersmay beregulated at will.

'hat is claimed is A wire straightening machine comprising end of thecasing, gearing connecting the feeding and delivery rolls to rotate themat the same rate of speed, the delivery rolls being of greater diameterthan the receiving rolls, two independent banks of straightening rollsmounted in the casing, one bank being arranged perpendicularly totheother so as to dispose the rolls of one bank in a horizontal planeand the rolls ofthe other bank in a vertical plane, each bank of rollsbeing provided With means for adjusting,

the rolls individually, a guide tube connecting the banks of rolls,other guide tubes connecting each bank to the receiving and deliveryrolls respectively, and supporting guide tubes, one leading into thereceiving rolls and the other leading from the delivery rolls.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two'witnesses.

ALBERT P. GILBERT. l/Vitnesses:

A. M. NORTH, I. F. HILL.

